H&M: Communication Strategies in the Digital World

Today, I am going to discuss H&M’s communications strategies to investors, governments, the community and the world. What is the brand doing well and what can they improve upon? I will touch upon Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which you will probably be familiar with in relation to H&M, and I will also talk about crises and their effects on strategies.

Strategies in Investor Relations

In their book Digital Strategies for Powerful Corporate Communications, Argenti and Barnes quote the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) in their definition of investor relations. The central point is that it is an integration of “finance, communication, marketing and securities law compliance to enable the most effective two-way communication between a company, the financial community and other constituencies.” Argenti and Barnes frequently discuss the prevalent mistrust in large corporations in our world today. The authors highlight the importance, then, of more communication. Important steps to remember in investor relations are to articulate “the company’s vision, strategy, and potential to investors, analysts, and the media,” to ensure “expectations of the company’s stock price are appropriate,” and to reduce “stock price volatility.” Argenti and Barnes point out that “research shows that corporate IR activity could account for as much as a 25 percent variance in a company’s stock price.” Communication is important!

First of all, H&M shares information: stock information, annual and periodical reports and sales development reports on their website. According to Argenti and Barnes, “2008 was the first year that all U.S. companies were required to post their annual reports and proxy statements online.” It appears H&M is moving with (and ahead of) the times by going digital. H&M has annual reports online all the way back to 1999.

Many IR groups hold IR Website Awards and in Argenti and Barnes’ book, we see that H&M fairs well in many of the categories: “broad, deep access to current and historical information,” up-to-date information, easily accessible information, graphics, data and more should be “aesthetically pleasing,” and all users should have equal access. There is one category H&M doesn’t quite hit, but I will touch on that later.

The head of Investor Relations, Nils Vinge, is actually readily available on the site with his phone number even listed. This was a surprise to me, since many times people feel they need to “jump through hoops” to get to important people. I also often find e-mail addresses are listed and not phone numbers. This is impressive and although it may seem small, I believe this is a conscious choice to show authenticity and openness. Board members and ownership structure are listed publicly with ample pertinent information. The site also gives information on the annual shareholder meeting in Sweden as well as an archive of annual reports. As I have mentioned, there is also a direct newsletter for which anyone can sign up.   

With the goals of social, economic and environmental sustainability, investors are going to be interested in the stability and follow-through from the organization. That said, beyond just the direct and publicly posted communications to investors, H&M reaches investors through various means, regardless of if it is indirect or this particular group is the direct audience. H&M “proves” themselves through hard numbers, through consistent advertising and through public relations and an online, social presence.

A note on the CEO, who is also a shareholder (and stakeholder):

Karl-Johan Persson (b. 1975) is the Managing Director and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Hennes & Mauritz. His grandfather, Erling Persson founded the company in 1947. The current CEO answers to the board of directors. First of all, to reach out and be open to the public, H&M has published Persson’s background and work information on their site (probably to show that beyond being the grandson of the founder, that he has “earned” his way to where he is) and also has posted an interview with him discussing his thoughts on business growth and sustainability. All “insider” shareholders (this is more in the investments side) are listed on H&M’s site, including Persson.

Communication Strategies with Government Bodies/Government Relations

According to H&M’s site, the company and the CEO, Persson, have sent letters to the government in Bangladesh to raise the minimum wage to a sustainable amount. H&M also arranged a conference in Dhaka with suppliers, labor groups, unions, government representatives and more to present a development plan. In fact, as of yesterday, H&M announced that the governments are taking too long to raise the wages in Bangladesh and Cambodia and H&M has made “a plan to ensure that workers making its clothing are paid wages that cover their cost of living. This was reported in news outlets across the country and world. These aforementioned relationships with governments are crossovers between H&M’s mission and corporate social responsibility and government relationships.

Aside from conferences, letters, awareness campaigns and corporate plans, it is difficult if not impossible to find information about H&M and government relations. I will discuss it more in my suggestions later in this post, but H&M does do lobbying (like the Bangladesh and Cambodia issue noted above), but there is little information available about the details behind it—contributions towards lobbying, specific actions and more. As Argenti and Barnes say, corporations and lawmakers were “slow to adopt Web 2.0 as a platform for communication and messaging.” H&M often proves to be ahead of the curve in this respect, but needs to play some catch up in terms of government relations.

Community Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

There are many buzzwords for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and Argenti and Barnes note that “the actual business case for dedicating resources to CR initiatives most likely falls somewhere between profitability and obligation.” This may be the case with H&M, but it is more likely that decision makers at the company had vision in the early stages of the green initiative and made the right choice. The brand clearly cares about sustainability – these are not merely projects or individual campaigns, but a means of running the business. There is much confusion among stakeholders on what “green” means and if a company is being honest, so it is all the more important to make this clear. Thankfully, through an up-to-date website, social media campaigns, advertisements and online events, H&M communicates their message.

In my last post, I talked about the Fashion Against AIDS campaign. Celebrities like Selma Blair, Akon and Penn Badgley represented H&M’s cause by saying, “I Wear, I Care.” Bhargava discusses celebrity spokespeople in his book, Personality Not Included. The authenticity and trustworthiness of this type of spokesperson is often called into question since many view celebrities as just being “paid to play” and not actually being personal enthusiasts. Still, Bhargava notes that celebrities in connection with social causes often result in success because the public assumes this must be something the celebrity personally cares about (Bhargava uses the example of the ONE Campaign and Brad Pitt, Bono, George Clooney and more). I think it is very smart that H&M went this route; however, one might say that any H&M celebrity endorsement or spokesperson is a showing in support of social causes. I say this because H&M has so closely aligned itself with sustainability and fair labor, that the two are almost synonymous. When Beyonce models for H&M, it is assumed she is supporting the mission of the brand. The same goes for David Beckham and Gisele Bundchen. In the case of H&M, the use of celebrity works for them because of their strong branding and messaging to the public in everything they do.

I have also talked about “Kiss for a Cause,” another Fashion Against AIDS campaign that asked for user-generated content: submit photo of yourself kissing a loved one and H&M will donate $1 to AIDS prevention. If you’ve read my blog before, H&M Loves Music should sound familiar to you: H&M is reaching the music scene by spotting trends at music festivals. H&M reaches out to the community through their social networking sites, as I have discussed at length in prior posts. On H&M's website, there is a blog by presumably someone in the corporate office with occasional guest bloggers. The posts are kept short and eye-catching. Some feature specific products that consumers can buy online. The blog appears to be edited well. Again, this communicates to the H&M fashion fan: "We care. Here's even more content that you can check out."

Additionally, H&M holds online fashion events such as the most recent one with the tagline: “Conscious: Look great. Feel good. Be conscious.” This includes “authorities” on fashion discussing hot topics. Bhargava talks about “The Authority,” or a “credible and unbiased third party” who is “believable due to subject expertise and perceived neutrality.” The site for this particular event proclaims, “Watch the panel discussion with some key people in the fashion industry live from Vogue headquarter in New York.” This is at a neutral location and it is insinuated that these are non-H&M experts, establishing credibility with the neutral location and occupation. The moderator was Simon Collins, Dean of Fashion at Parsons The New School for Design. Two of the panelists were from H&M, one panelist was an independent fashion consultant, one was a designer, one was the managing editor of Ecouterre, an eco-fashion website, and so on. All of these, with the exception of the two from H&M, would be considered authorities. They are supporting Vogue (high fashion) and they are supporting H&M. This type of event interacts well with multiple audiences (customers, board members, investors, employees, those in the fashion world, etc.) and shows that H&M cares. As Collins noted, “they put their money where their mouth is.” This is pushing forward H&M’s perception as a socially responsible brand.

Furthering H&M’s Digital Strategies

In Argenti and Barnes Digital Strategies for Powerful Corporate Communications, we learn about IBM’s “jam sessions,” which connect “employees around the world and empowering them to voice their ideas.” I am not aware of H&M’s internal strategies as I am an external researcher; however, with such a large company, these type of think-tank events could be not only useful marketing-wise, but also for employee engagement and satisfaction. Employees are stakeholders and this is a great way to reach out. I do like that H&M invites everyone to the annual meeting (although it’s in Sweden, which is limiting).

Remember when I was talking about the IR Website Awards? One tenet to judge by is that the site should “offer two-way communication.” H&M does well at many things, but I think they could improve on this. I like that they include H&M’s IR director’s phone number, but there needs to be more. I like the jam session, or maybe there could be online or networking events like the online fashion event that took place.

With regards to government relations, the conferences, letters, awareness campaigns and corporate plans are excellent ways of communicating with government bodies, but I would suggest adding an easily accessible “Government Relations” link near “Investor Relations.” It may be that H&M is not as directly involved with the government as other brands, but this is still an important facet. I did find a “Political Contributions and Lobbying” section after some searching, which asserts that the brand does not support a specific financial party, but has done lobbying such as that to the Bangladeshi government and also “addressing the issue of forced child labour in Uzbek cotton industry at the EU level. H&M even has a portion of their site dedicated to their “conscious actions” and if they are at the level of “started,” “more to do,” or “on track.” This certainly adds to their authenticity factor, but I would love to see this type of page more prominent.

Strategies in Crisis: Business as Usual or Big Changes?

Argenti and Barnes write multiple times in their book that crises can be catastrophes or opportunities. The way a company handles negative situations can bring them out on top (or even more popular than before) or sink them deeper. There are examples of good and bad handlings of PR crises from Coca-Cola to Tylenol to BP to Exxon-Valdez. We all know that the world has drastically changed since the innovation of Web 2.0 and with it comes faster media response, bloggers and microbloggers, widespread and fast-moving hoaxes and more. The important thing is that “corporate leaders…hold—and not bite—the hand that feeds them.” It’s okay not to be in total control.

When I think of crises, I automatically think back to the book, The Crisis Manager: Facing Risk and Responsibility by Otto Lerbinger. I read this in my undergraduate studies, and it has many strategies that not only still ring true, but that I remember clearly. Before a crisis, make sure to create a contingency plan, try to sort out all of the worst-case scenarios and appoint an internal spokesperson. Under the “Risk Management” section, H&M does outline any foreseen or potential risks to the company. This can never be an exhaustive or complete list, because there are always unpredictable factors. After a crisis occurs, take responsibility, act quickly, assess the situation individually and investigate…and don’t forget to apologize if it is your fault.

H&M does a good job communicating for the most part, with letters, blogs, events, website information and more. In this sense, it would be business as usual. In another sense, more active response might be required in the form of a press conference or video news release. Take the situation I spoke about previously regarding H&M’s labor accusations. I like the way H&M combatted this: through their continued marketing, through their messaging and support of fair wages and with special sections on their site addressing the issues. The only thing I would add would be to include a multimedia element (like video or interviews). The important issue there is to have a unified message and spokesperson/people.

Conclusion

If you’ve made it to the end of this, good on you! In conclusion, I’d like to say that H&M is a well-represented brand that follows through with its mission and goals. There are certainly areas of improvement, but the brand comes across as self-aware, open and authentic, and I trust it will continue to innovate. And it's not too shabby that H&M was named one of Ethisphere's 2013 Most Ethical Companies.

H&M and Media Relations: Where do they Stand?

Before I enter into the discussion and audit-of-sorts on H&M’s media relations strategies, I want to mention one piece of corporate communication that does not fit perfectly under a category: the newsletter. A newsletter is a traditional media source of communication, but with a modern twist as it is commonly an e-newsletter. H&M has cleverly placed this under “Follow Us,” with the other social media outlets. Suddenly, a blasé newsletter becomes a cool way to keep up with the brand. If you click the link, it offers the consumer 20% off an item for joining. This offers an incentive. Bravo on spicing up the newsletter, H&M!

Onward!

Media Relations Strategies

Traditional Media Tactics and Strategies

Media Kit

Oddly, I had a difficult time finding a media kit for H&M on their website. When I Googled “H&M Media Kit,” it brought me to a Word Press site for H&M Miami with a fairly helpful media kit, but this was obviously site-specific. Upon further searching, I found that there was no media kit through this means. When I went back to the newsroom, it almost appeared before my eyes. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but H&M has gone against the norm of having a clearly defined media kit and has simply placed a sidebar next to the news with reports, press contacts, updates, quick facts and brands-at-a-glance. Now that I see it, I love how clean and organized it is (remaining with the branding and style of neutrals, photos and clean lines). My only concern would be that many members of the press might overlook it because it is hidden in plain sight, so to speak, and not in it’s own “clickable” section.

PSAs (Public Service Announcements)

According to Wikipedia, PSAs (Public Service Announcements) are defined as "messages in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge, with the objective of raising awareness, changing public attitudes and behavior towards a social issue." As a self-proclaimed minor Google sleuth, I can say with certainty that the official term, “public service announcement” does not yield proper results for H&M; however, when looking into their campaigns, the organization’s YouTube page came up. Through their YouTube page (which I will mention again later in this post), you can view all of H&M’s video campaigns. Several years ago, H&M did a campaign about Fashion Against AIDS (which I distinctly remember from when I was in England in the Spring of 2008). It appears they continued this into 2011 and 2012 with celebrities such as Selma Blair, Akon and Penn Badgley represented the brand to raise awareness of the disease and raise money to help find a cure. Each of these 20-second spots is identical, save for the famous face that is presented. Each celebrity jumps out of a rotating ball of fabrics and says, “I wear; I care.” 

Granted, these could be loosely interpreted as public service announcements as they are closer to awareness campaigns showing H&M’s corporate social responsibility (CSR). Often, CSR is expected from large, financially healthy brands; business as usual is not enough. Companies must show they care about their communities and the world. This goes directly in line with H&M’s brand personality and mission: “Conscious: Our vision is that all business operations shall be run in a way that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable.” I can’t help but mention H&M’s “Kiss for a Cause” campaign, which is connected to “Fashion Against AIDS.” This campaign features an edgy 53-second spot depicting various young couples embracing and kissing with subsequent text introducing the campaign. This campaign is also great because at the end of the clip, it calls for fan photos of couples kissing; saying H&M will donate $1 to AIDS prevention with every photo. This idea combines many effective strategies, including user-generated content (helping the consumer to feel like the brand cares about his or her opinion and encouraging a two-way conversation), showing corporate social responsibility and allowing others to join in and feel like they are part of a good cause. Based on Tina Wells’ book, Chasing YouthCulture and Getting it Right, she would say that teenage “alternatives” would love this kind of marketing, since this “tribe” is all about justice and attaching themselves to causes.

VNRs (Video News Releases)

There are no video news releases on H&M’s public sites and platforms. This is an older and more traditional method and seems almost obsolete within the media. It is applicable for certain organizations, and live broadcasts can be helpful at the appropriate time, but in my experience, press releases with photos and information are the largely acceptable format in today’s world. I work in public relations at a boarding school, and we always use press releases and photos, with occasional video footage to supplement.

Events

H&M puts on local “events” in stores when special sales are going on, which are often advertised through social media (new media tactic). This is standard for most retail stores. As far as other events go, H&M did not sponsor, but they traveled to various music festivals last summer looking for the best fashion and posted to their site http://hmlovesmusic.com. This site is consistent with the imagery and branding of H&M’s other sites as well as in their desired demographic (young, fashionable alternatives). This is a unique idea that interlaces social media, events and branding/public relations all into one until each no longer seems mutually exclusive. Connecting with the music and festival culture sets H&M apart from other brands. The concept of connecting your brand to music is very powerful among many teens as music is hugely important to this group. I base this on my survey and focus group research among approximately 15 teens ages 13-17 in the summer of 2013. These are, of course, not large numbers, but many of the teens included were not connected and lived in different areas--and the results were still consistent.

The brand also put on an online fashion event last April (2013). Members of the online community could follow the discussion from various expert panelists and make comments on the page. The slogan for this event was “Look Great. Feel Good. Be Conscious.” Again, this is a great example of H&M remaining extremely consistent with their messaging. It is worth mentioning that although the name and logo H&M are the same on the event page, the name Hennes & Mauritz is used in the URL. This may have been to make the brand sound more respectable and high class, but this is only speculation; don't quote me on that.

New Media Tactics and Strategies and Tactics

Website

As I’ve mentioned, H&M’s website is connected very well to the brand as well as the brand alignment (same H&M logo repeated, same design and imagery between brands and sub-brands, etc.) and has a comprehensive amount of information as well. Under the “Press” section, there is an online newsroom with the latest stories press releases and news about the brand. Each of these are organized and dated in a very clean and visual manner, lined up with photos for each piece and with individual categories of stories as well. The news goes all the way back to 1999. This establishes a credibility and history (bringing forth a feeling of authenticity, background and roots of the brand). Many of the stories center on sustainability and a couple even discuss and defend labor practices. The stories also highlight H&M’s financial growth and stability. Of course, there are a couple of articles also featuring H&M’s fashion. All of these picks point directly to the brand personality I researched and uncovered last blog. Some examples of these headlines are: “H&M Conscious Foundation supports typhoon ‘Haiyan’ victims in the Philippines,” “H&M is once again included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World 2013,” “Fashion Media Update” and “Sales Development in October 2013." We also see the H&M logo in more than 10 places on the page, which is surprisingly subtle (maybe I just expected it).

As mentioned above financial reports and data were actually available in the media kit on the news/press page. An RSS feed is prominently available and images are everywhere (in an organized, linear fashion, of course). The one thing lacking on the news page is any interactivity. Interactivity certainly took place in the “Kiss for a Cause” campaign and on the organization’s social media channels.

Blogs/Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+ pages are promoted on the website. H&M’s social pages promote products, special offers and contests. News is primarily left off of these pages, which I believe is purposeful. Their sites communicate fun and involvement. One example of user-generated content was this post: “What’s your favorite thing to bake during the holidays? Leave a comment below with your answer & we’ll choose one lucky fan to win this holiday kitchen set!” There is a request for users’ opinions and an incentive to submit a response. This was an effective strategy with 683 likes, 20 shares and 972 comments. With all of the involvement and particularly with the shares, the talkability of the brand rises and individuals become brand ambassadors.

The media strategies employed by H&M absolutely fit with the overall personality of the organization: “H&M’s brand personality is modern and fashion-forward; it is socially, economically and environmentally conscious; it is inexpensive. H&M is approachable fashion.” Every piece of H&M’s communications includes the same sleek, modern look. The brand is exemplary in their consistent socially and environmentally conscious messaging. H&M is open (key word: authentic) about their financials as well as their commitment to fair partnerships. H&M connects people through their social media activity and allows the fast fashion to be within reach for everyone.

Where to go from here?

As far as improvements to the media relations tactics and strategies, I have some minor suggestions. I would suggest making a clearer title area over the media kit: I love how it is organized, but it blends in with the news a little too well and would benefit from an eye-catching banner. The press page as well as the website could use some more interactivity. Although there is interactivity on the social media channels, H&M could benefit from some cross-platform involvement. It would be simple to add one more element to the contests such as posting something to Instagram, pinning something to Pinterest or going to the company's website.

H&M: What's Your Personality?

In the book, Personality Not Included, Rohit Bhargava points out, “When everyone sells the same ‘unique’ thing, it is nearly impossible to stand out.” This statement can apply to almost anything, but today, I am going to look at fashion retailer H&M and their brand personality. Bhargava uses what is called the UAT (uniqueness, authenticity, talkability) Filter to define a brand’s personality. It is specifically called a filter because each factor needs to be taken together in conjunction; by themselves, they would fall flat in the long term. When you stack the three together, though, it can create a powerful brand.

Uniqueness

Photo via vnony.com

First, I want to jump off of this idea of uniqueness. According to Wikipedia, H&M opened their first American store in March 2000 on Fifth Avenue in New York City. What is unique about H&M is that, first of all, it brought a chic European style for affordable prices to America—so, to a point, regardless of your socio-economic status, you could rock a European-style fashion forward number from H&M. This aligns with Bhargava’s idea to “think outside of your region”—or to bring something that might not be as unique in your region to another area where it is considered special and in demand. And unlike Häagen-Dazs, H&M is an actual European company (but more on that later). With other countries like the United States (with over 200 stores), Germany (377 stores) and the United Kingdom (192 stores) leading the number of stores to H&M’s original home of Sweden (168 stores), it is clear that the unique international appeal works in the company’s favor. Interestingly, the brand was quite behind the times when it came to online retailing: they didn’t open an online shop in the United States until August 2013. One might guess they were trying to keep the feeling of exclusivity and a special experience when visiting a store for as long as possible (that’s just a rumination, though).

Authenticity

Onto authenticity: I will start with my earlier note on Häagen-Dazs. Although many people now know that Häagen-Dazs is an American company, it is still successful. When I recently found this out, I felt dismayed that I had been misled to believe this was some sort of authentic Belgian, German or Austrian brand. What H&M has going for them as far as authenticity is that it is not only being marketed as a European brand; it is, in fact, a European brand.

“The most common misperception about authenticity is that it is all about transparency,” Bhargava says. The author continues, “If you're transparent about the fact that you don't listen to your customers and are not interested in their opinions, you're not being very authentic even though you are transparent.” This separation of the terms being mutually exclusive is very important. It made me consider the labor violation accusations against H&M that I brought up in my last post. How can H&M be authentic in this situation? While I had difficulty finding any sort of official response from the organization, I did find the section on their website, “A clear stand against child labor.” Not only does H&M choose to focus on their environmental sustainability and responsible partnerships, but they also have responded to negative accusations in their own way. “We take a clear stand against all use of child labour; fortunately it is now very rare that we discover any workers below the statutory minimum age in our supplier factories,” the site says. “A ban on child labour is a minimum requirement for all factories producing for H&M and we would not consider any supplier factory that does not commit to this.” Here, the messaging does not ignore the issue and say it has never happened, but it does detail the importance the company places and trying to make sure it does not happen. You can read on the page how H&M monitors work sites and also what the punishments are for non-compliance. Ignoring the issue altogether would be inauthentic, but handling it the way they did is perceived as responsible (without addressing specific incidents).

Now that I have discussed the “elephant in the room,” we can move onto other factors in H&M’s understood authenticity. Bhargava states the importance of defining a “credible heritage,” or a “real background that customers identify with.” It is a known fact that H&M is from Sweden, and from a quick web search, we find out that the company has been around since 1947. The next step is to “demonstrate passion and belief” about the “mission” and the company as a whole – H&M does a great job of this with their focus on recycled materials and having responsible partnerships with workers in other countries (this, of course, relates to the “conscious” and “sustainable” part of their mission). Some who have chastised H&M for their labor practices might disagree with this, but they have to agree that regardless of what might be true or not, H&M consistently portrays a strong passion and belief for their ideals. The last big point in authenticity I want to mention is Bhargava’s idea of having “motives beyond profit.” This also goes hand in hand with H&M’s socially and economically conscious marketing.

Talkability

Photo via NY Mag

Love it or hate it, H&M has great word of mouth appeal. Their styles have even been seen on the red carpet. Take Helen Hunt, who rocked an H&M gown to the 2013 Academy Awards. Some may have considered this “low class” since the company is not a high-fashion designer, but an A-list actress still decided to wear it and a lot of people were talking about it. I remember seeing this all over entertainment news. That’s talkability. Of talkability, Bhargava says, “…talkability is the all-important final component of personality. It allows your brand to travel from person to person and manifest the benefits of positive word of mouth.” The author also notes that, “word of mouth is the most influential source of trusted advice for most consumers.” Remember when I said I heard about H&M through word of mouth? I think it’s safe to assume I’m not the only one. I heard about the company from my friend, and I remember it feeling unique and exclusive. Other people weren’t wearing this stuff. Now that it is much more popular, the same idea can still apply: since the stores are so large, and such a variety is offered, consumers are still likely to feel the item they chose is unique.

It’s clear that the “hook” that H&M uses is in their tagline, “Fashion and Quality for the Best Price.” Most people who have been in a mall or a city in the last couple of years can remember seeing a huge billboard or poster depicting a model in H&M clothing. On the image, the text will read: “Blazer - $9.95” or “Dress - $14.95.” Many consumers can recall Beyonce modeling H&M bathing suits in advertisements reading: “Bikini: $9.95.” It seems almost ludicrous that the clothing is that cheap, but the models and celebrities are wearing it and it looks great! This hook creates talkability: “I just got this bikini for less than 10 bucks! Beyonce was wearing a bikini for less than 10 bucks!”

Onliness

An “Onliness Statement” is a statement that sets a brand apart from others. For example, for H&M, the statement could be: “H&M is the only fashion retailer makes our clothing out of recycled materials.” This may not be true, but if we add, “H&M is the only fashion retailer that provides a quality, high-fashion look and makes our clothing out of recycled materials,” it removes most, if not all of the competition. The brand’s onliness statement is not highlighted specifically, but can be easily extracted from their mission: “Conscious: Our vision is that all business operations shall be run in a way that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable” and in their tagline, “Fashion and Quality for the Best Price.” H&M’s onliness statement (even if I had to put it together) is extremely consistent with the brand’s personality. In the public psyche, unique and quality fashion and environmental consciousness don’t usually go together—this is what makes H&M stand out.  

Branding

Screenshot from a Google search on H&M's logo

Speaking of the brand’s personality, what exactly is it? First, let’s talk about the name. H&M is a combination of the founders’ names and an acronym. H&M stands for Hennes & Mauritz, and I think it is pretty clear that the acronym is more memorable than the names. Still, the acronym gives the idea of a name, which makes it personal. The acronym makes it distinctive. Because it is so simple, it is also easy to create a visual from the words into a logo or even a brandmark (visual representation of a brand). Even though we are looking at letters of the alphabet (and a small ampersand symbol), the logo is drawn in such a visual way that it could almost be repeated on a dress or suit to make a pattern. Even a simple Google search of the logo looks like wallpaper. This helps in the sequence of cognition because people first recognize shapes, then color and last, content. The color is a bright red, which is warm and lively. The name is positive – people like to think of companies as being founded by and made up of individuals and not just some large corporate entity. Naming the company after the founders’ surnames is also meaningful because it hearkens back to a heritage and a history of the brand. Overall, this is a very effective name.

In the brand’s architecture, or structure, it has sub-brands COS, Monki, Weekday, Cheap Monday and & Other Stories. These sub-brands are not explicitly advertised as H&M brands and each have a unique theme or personality. I wouldn’t say the brand architecture is unified due to these differences; however, each website is organized in a similar way, with linear patterns (like the logo/name) and with neutral tones. The photos are also done, for the most part, in the same way. This is a good way to connect them all visually but separate each with its own personality. As far as the mother H&M brand, there is definitely a unified brand alignment. Everything I have seen, from bags to the website to billboards has consistently the same style and includes the logo. When you see an H&M ad or packaging, you know that it’s H&M.

As discussed above, the slogan, or tagline, is: “Fashion and Quality at the best price.” This descriptive tagline is not something that the general public specifically knows, although I believe the idea is inherent through and through in the brand. Every girl knows that if she needs a last minute cute New Year’s Eve party dress for a good price, that H&M is the place to go. The only question here is with the claim of “quality.” Most shoppers might agree that H&M is a step above Forever21 as far as quality goes, but it is not on the durability level of more expensive retailers like Banana Republic, J. Crew or Express. Still, for the price, it’s not bad.

Finally, Personality!

Phew! I know that was a lot. But, in order to understand the brand’s personality, I think we really needed to delve into all of those aspects. The brand is certainly unique, authentic and talkable. The branding details are distinctive, meaningful and recognizable, helping the consumer to attach him or herself to the brand easily. The name, logo, tagline and brand alignment add into a powerful fashion brand. Like I said, the name/logo could be printed onto a dress and it would probably look good (if it wasn’t such an obvious marketing ploy)! H&M’s brand personality is modern and fashion-forward; it is socially, economically and environmentally conscious; it is inexpensive. H&M is approachable fashion. The logo is easy to read; it is not a cryptic image with an exclusively known meaning. Overall, the company is quite consistent with its imagery and messaging with regards to its audience.